MBB Silver Linings - reasons to look on the bright side

Wisconsin was more depressing to me, so I've already backed away from the ledge after last Saturday.  A "W' there would've wrapped a 2-2 record over a murderous stretch of basketball.   MSU was bad, but I wasn't expecting a "W" in E. Lansing this year on the tail end of the 4 game basketball journey from hell.

As Dakich mentioned many times last night, MSU played their best game of the year.   They were lights out on both ends of the court and deserved to win by 20+ points.   I still believe we can avenge this loss - as well as Indiana - at Crisler. 

Positives:   this team now understands how the intensity needs to be racheted up against the likes of Wisconsin and MSU.  The neutral court setting for the B1G and NCAA tourney should not hinder us as much as playing in hostile environs like Bloomington, E. Lansing, and Madison.  Going forward, I really hope these types of road games don't rattle us as severely as we've seen the past two weeks.

Now, all we need is

1) Our coach to accept a job at Arizona State right before the tournament;

2) Dave Brandon to profess that only a Michigan Man will coach Michigan;

3) The players to rally around Bacari Alexander; and

4) Stauskas to remember that he can shoot like Glen Rice.

Seriously though, this team still has potential. However, they need good matchups in the tourney. Plus, as repeated ad nauseum yesterday, there will be neutral courts in the tourney and tourney refs don't let teams play as aggressively as a typical B1G game.

Go Blue!

Great teams can absolutely get blown out.  I mean, hell, look at the 95-96 Bulls, who were arguably the greatest NBA team of all time.  They lost a game by 32 points.  And it wasn't like anyone was out injured or resting or anything during that game.

I was just bummed seeing how everyone else was bummed on here, and I wanted to do my part to cheer everyone back up.

is if he goes all Carmelo Anthony in the tourney and leads us to the title.  Otherwise, you're correct, he's coming back.

I agree.  We lose Burke next year but have a a stud point guard coming in as well as another Hardaway type player.  We add another Big Man next year as well.  The future of Michigan Basketball is looking bright.

This just boils down to grit and determination.  You simply have to take pride in playing D. 

GR3 is lost in the wilderness and (imo) sulking because his offensive production blows.  He's not breaking HARD to the basket and therefore gets no passes thrown his way.  Then he mopes around the rest of the offensive possession, followed up by a half-assed, mailed in effort on D.

Stauskas gets lost on D.  It's like watching a child navigate a subway station at rush hour. 

I think it's time for Coach B to go all "Izzo" on the players and let them know in no uncertain terms that the effort sucks ass and won't be tolerated.

I'm getting tired of the "Haven't faced an environment like this" cliche.  Does that mean playing at the Schott, Assembly, and Kohl, along with being #1 for two games and having that bullseye on your back, couldn't help prepare us for Breslin?

As for silver linings: We get to watch the best player in the country.  Even the Sparty fans I was watching with were giving Trey his due.  Unfortunately I think he got a little frustrated with how the game was going and it resulted in foul trouble like the charge off the inbound.

I think it's funny how people react to the "starting freshmen" excuse by bringing up Kentucky or the Fab Five.  Kentucky played in a terrible league last year, as evidenced by Florida this year.  If the B1G was as bad as the SEC, Michigan would probably be undefeated at this point.

And everyone loves the Fab Five, but don't forget they went 11-7 in the Big Ten as freshmen, and 25-9 overall.  We tend to forget that because they went to the title game, but it isn't like they dominated the Big Ten or anything.

Anybody who thought for one minute that the freshmen on this team are comparable to Webber, Howard, Rose, King, and Jackson is simply a dope. The Fab Five, whatever their off-court issues, were a singular phenomenon without equal in college basketball history.

Anybody who thought for 5 seconds that Stauskas has proven he's as good a pure shooter as Glen Rice is an idiot. Rice still holds the NCAA tournament record for most points for a reason.

Anybody who thought for 1 second that this team is better than the '89 team—and there were numbskulls who actually were trying to assert that when we were undefeated—is beyond help.

The phenomenon of so many people being ready to jump off the bridge or slit their wrists or advocate firing Beilein over this loss is largely due to the completely unrealistic expectations that so many have had for this squad. There is absolutely nothing wrong with hope and desire, and disappointment after a tough loss is entirely natural. It's when fans buy into the hype and start assuming without question that Michigan will of course get a #1 seed and a spot in the final four—after 15 years of being in the basketball wilderness and having a very inexperienced roster overall—that you get the doom and gloom. There's a good percentage of fans here who are like meth addicts: crazy, wild-eyed exhiliration over a run of victories, and then the inevitable black-hole suicidal crash when the high wears off after a run of losses.

Not all Freshman are the same. Chris Webber was a 5 time NBA All-Star and had almost a 15 year NBA career, Jalen had almost a 10 year career, and Juwan Howard spent 20 years in the league, all 3 were first round picks too.

Same with Kentucky. Davis was the No. 1 pick, and Kidd-Gilchrist was the No. 2 pick. Teague and Jones were also 1st rounders.

Do you really think our Freshman are 1st round picks? Or are so good they're going to be starters in the NBA next year?